1. Count only the best 6 races for all racers.
2. The AMA Nationals is a local race for all districts.
3. Awards for Q40 will be presented at the Q40 Championship Race at the banquet on Saturday night.
4. Quickie Awards will be sent to the District VP's by the VP, by the 30th of October.
5. It is the responsibility of each District VP to see all results are sent to the VP's before the weekend after the 30 of September. They must be on the correct form. If they are not sent in by then, it is to late and to bad. All results must go through the District VP on the proper form to be counted. The VP's will first check the most current roster and then mark the NMPRA racing numbers on the form for the current members only.
6. The season stops as of September 30th. If The first of October falls on a Sunday, then the races for that day will be counted for previous year.
7. For any points to be counted, the racer must be a paid up member of the NMPRA at the time of the contest.
8. Awards will be for the top 10% of NMPRA members racing it the event or the top 20, whichever comes first
9. Only races will be counted that are enforcing the 428 legal airplanes. Remember a 424 airplane is also legal in 428, and so are most of the races in the country that are using stock engines and mufflers. It has been a NMPRA tradition to award the top twenty fliers in 422, 424 and 428 with recognition in the form of cash, jackets and shirts, and your name in the record book. To get there, you first must be a current member by February 28 unless you are a new member. After the end of February 28, only scores posted after your dues have been paid will be counted.

The scoring system was first developed by a committee headed by Bob Smith in 1972. Ed Rankin of Fort Worth , Texas , was a member of that committee and provided us with some of the history of the scoring system and a copy of the 1972 NMPRA newsletter that explained it as a modification of an older scoring system. Ed started flying pylon in 1964, and at age 82 is still active with his son and Randy Rich flying a 42% AR-6 Endeavor F-1 that set a new USRA F-1 record of 1:23.1 in August of 2007.

The 1972 newsletter explained the system and gave the formula that was developed. A chart was developed using the formula and put into the NMPRA race procedure guide.

The formula that was developed is

P = 100 X A - 1 + .2A + 1E

Where A = Basic points by the old NMPRA system
E = Number of entries
P = National points

In 1993, Dan Kane gave the formula as (100/number of entries+0.2)*(number of entries-pilots finish place)+1.2)=points. This formula produced the same result as the formula given in the newsletter in 1972.

Since then, others have developed charts and user-friendly spread sheets to allow fliers to track their local and national points. In 1993 Danny Kane of Illinois reverse-engineered the points chart and created a DOS program to allow him to look up points more easily than using the printed chart. He later placed the formula into an Excel file. Jim Allen of Arizona took the formula one step further and developed a very comprehensive spread sheet that is used by the points coordinators today.

The printed chart and the spread sheet are available on the NMPRA website to anyone interested in tracking his points. They are listed as "Spreadsheet of NMPRA Points matrix (lookup)" and "Spreadsheet for Western Series NMPRA points Calculations" by clicking on "Software" on the www.nmpra.org web site. The chart on the website does not include the lower attendance races so we have printed it here for your use. In using the chart, be aware that NMPRA will not record points for races with attendance below five. These events are considered "practice sessions" by NMPRA. We show the scores in case your local group wants to track points for a low turnout event. The points coordinators use the best 6 races for each pilot in calculating the national points standings.

USING THE CHART (Spreadsheet of NMPRA Points matrix (lookup))

Notice that at the top of the chart there are numbers representing the number of contestants in the race. Be aware that this means the number of racers included in one matrix and not necessarily a total of all racers for that day. You can count only racers you actually compete against. If they are in the same lane as yours, they still count even though you may not actually fly against them in a heat. In the normal race day with 30 racers and five rounds, you will fly only against a maximum of 15 other fliers in a five round event (3 fliers per round times 5 rounds.)

If the matrix contains a mix of standard and expert fliers, then all fliers will count. If two separate matrixes are run, then only those in your matrix will count.

One rule that many scorekeepers miss is that only those who actually competed in at least one heat will count. If a racer crashes in practice and pulls out of the event, he will not count as a competitor even though his name may still be in the matrix and listed in the final standings.

The left column on the chart is your finish position at the end of the race day. Follow down from the number of racers to your finish position. The number at the intersection of the two is your season points for that race. Using the spread sheet is a little more difficult as it must be modified to suit your location and national rules. Jim Allen has set the spread sheet to use the best 8 races in his district. To use the spread sheet for national points or your own district, it must be revised to use the appropriate number of races. Once set up, it will compute the race day points and the season points automatically.

NMPRA Point Look Excel File